Fried chicken is the quintessential southern dish. It has become synonymous with southern cooking, extending its dominance to even the realm of fast food. You’d be hard-pressed to find a southern Sunday dinner without it. Today, you are going to learn how to make fried chicken with my crispy Southern fried chicken recipe.
Ingredients for Southern Fried Chicken
- 4 pieces of chicken (whichever cut is your favorite)
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tsp thyme
- salt and pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 tbsp hot sauce (optional)
- 2 cups buttermilk
Let’s talk about the chicken itself. There are several different cuts to choose from, and everybody has their personal favorites. If you prefer white meat you have the breast, tenders, and wings to choose from. For dark meat, there are legs and thighs.
I’m partial to chicken thighs myself. They have more meat on them than legs or wings, and more flavor than the chicken breast. It’s the perfect combo. For white meat, tenders are my pick. Their smaller size means you get a better breading to meat ratio than with a chicken breast.
That is not to say that the other cuts of chicken are bad! I’ve eaten my fair share of all of them. This recipe will work for any cut of chicken, so go with your favorite.
Prep
The first step in our prep needs to be done well in advance, and that is soaking the chicken in buttermilk. I suggest giving the chicken at least a two-hour soak. I generally try and do this overnight.
If you want to make your fried chicken spicy, add the 2 tbsp of hot sauce to the buttermilk before adding the chicken and give it a good stir. This is the first layer of spice you can add to give your chicken a nice kick.
When you do cover your chicken, make sure it is completely submerged. Unlike traditional brine, we will not be washing this off!
Next up we need to prepare the flour. I listed 2 cups, but you might not need quite that much. You do want enough to completely coat your chicken, but the exact amount will vary depending on what cut of meat you use.
Place your flour in a good-sized plastic container without a lid. Check out my article on easy food storage solutions if you want to read more about plastic containers. Make sure the container is big enough to hold all of your chicken and has space for the chicken to move around. Otherwise, you will have to coat your chicken in batches.
Once the flour is safely in the container, toss in the garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, paprika, salt, and pepper. If you are making spicy fried chicken add in the cayenne pepper as well. A simple kitchen hack to easily incorporate all of the spices into the flour is to use a whisk instead of a spoon.
With the chicken soaking and the flour mixed, prep is done! As soon as the chicken has soaked for at least 2 hours, we are ready to cook!
Deep-frying vs Pan Frying
There are two different ways to fry the chicken: deep-frying and pan-frying. Deep-frying involves completely submerging the chicken in oil in a deep fryer. Pan-frying involves cooking the chicken in less oil in a cast-iron skillet. For my southern fried chicken recipe, I recommend deep-frying.
Either technique is fine, but one is definitely easier than the other, and that is deep-frying. A deep fryer makes it much easier to regular your temperature, and the volume of oil means you don’t have to watch it as closely.
If you are in need of a deep fryer, I suggest getting one with a built-in oil filtration system. I use a 3.5-liter deep fryer from T-Fal. Cleaning your oil after frying things from scratch will help your oil to last longer. Having an oil filtration system makes this a breeze.
With pan frying, you have to keep a closer eye on your oil temperature. The smaller volume of oil also means the chicken will be touching the bottom of the pan, so you have to keep an eye on that as well. It is definitely doable, but it is much easier to burn the chicken via pan-frying.
How To Make Fried Chicken
For either technique, we are going to heat our oil to 375. The reason for this high temp is that once you add the chicken, the temp will drop. Once the chicken is in, you can drop the temp to 350, which is where we want to cook the chicken.
While the oil is heating, we can bread the chicken. When removing the chicken from its marinating container, don’t wash off the buttermilk! The buttermilk is one of the key ingredients in getting that rich, southern fried chicken flavor. Don’t worry about extra buttermilk dripping into your flour either. The more the better!
Once all of the chicken is in the container, put the lid on and seal it tight. Give the container a good shake. Continue shaking until the chicken is properly coated. You want it completely covered with a nice coat.
As soon as the oil is ready, it’s time to fry! Remove the chicken from the container and gently shake off loose flour. Carefully dip the chicken into the oil. Whatever you do, don’t crowd your fryer. The chicken needs room to move around. You don’t want any pieces touching each other, or they might not cook right.
Cook time is something that scares a lot of newer cooks when it comes to chicken. A general rule of thumb is once the food starts to float it is close to being done. With chicken, especially bone-in chicken, I recommend using a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken to make sure it’s done. You need to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
For smaller pieces of chicken, I’d check the temp after 10 minutes. Larger pieces should be checked after 12 minutes of frying. If the chicken is not ready, check again in 2 minutes. Boneless cuts like tenders or boneless skinless chicken breast should be checked after 3 to 5 minutes.
How To Serve Southern Fried Chicken
While the chicken is frying, set up a plate near your fryer. Place a paper towel on the plate to help drain the excess grease from your chicken. This will help keep your plate from being greasy.
Once the chicken has reached 165 degrees, it is done! Carefully place the chicken on the paper towel-covered plate using tongs. Let the chicken rest for a couple of minutes as the excess grease drains off. I like to give it a quick sprinkle of salt while it’s still hot.
That’s my real deal southern fried chicken recipe. I think it’s a great southern Sunday dinner idea. Paired with some turnip or collard greens, black-eyed peas, and cornbread and you have an amazing southern feast! Find out more information on creating the perfect Sunday dinner with my Ultimate Southern Sunday dinner ideas guide.
Used on chicken tenders, it also makes for an easy lunch idea. If you are looking for dinner ideas with chicken, you can’t go wrong with this family dinner recipe. Enjoy!
Southern Fried Chicken
Equipment
- Deep-fryer
Ingredients
- 4 chicken cut of your choice
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 1 tsp salt to taste
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper optional, to taste
- 1 tbsp hot sauce optional
Instructions
- Marinate chicken in buttermilk at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
- Set oil to 375 degrees.
- Mix flour, paprika, garlic, onion, thyme, salt, pepper, and cayenne (optional) in a plastic container.
- Dredge chicken in flour mixture. Shake well to fully coat the chicken.
- Carefully place chicken in fryer. Depending on size of chicken, cook for 10-20 minutes. Check temp with meat thermometer.
- Once internal temp is 165 degrees, remove chicken and strain on a paper towel covered plate.
